The Tragedy of Liberation - A History of the Chinese Revolution 1945-1957

In 1949 Mao Zedong hoisted the red flag over Beijing's Forbidden City. Instead of liberating the country, the communists destroyed the old order and replaced it with a repressive system that would dominate every aspect of Chinese life. In an epic of revolution and violence which draws on newly opened party archives, interviews and memoirs, Frank Dikotter interweaves the stories of millions of ordinary people with the brutal politics of Mao's court. A gripping account of how people from all walks of life were caught up in a tragedy that sent at least five million civilians to their deaths.

About the author

Frank Dikötter

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A brilliant and powerful account of the formation of that society ... Nobody who reads about the cost of the establishment of the PRC in Dikotter's humane and lucid prose will find much sympathy for the authoritarian case. This excellent book is horrific but essential reading for all who want to understand the darkness that lies at the heart of one of the world's most important revolutions Guardian

Product details

• Authors: Frank Dikoetter, Frank Dikotter, Frank Dikötter
• Publisher: Bloomsbury
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 09.02.2017
• EAN: 9781408886359
• ISBN: 978-1-4088-8635-9
• No. of pages: 400
• Dimensions: 128 mm x 198 mm x 26 mm
• Series: The Peoples Trilogy; The Peoples Trilogy
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Contemporary history (1945 to 1989); Non-fiction book; China, HISTORY / Asia / China, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, Later 20th century c 1950 to c 1999, Political structures: totalitarianism and dictatorship, c 1950 to c 1959